Grading Comics Made Easy

Grading comics accurately is essential to their figuring out their proper value (and price!). Although the actual process of grading a comic isn’t really that difficult, it can be a bit intimidating for beginners.

One of the best tools your can turn to if you’re not certain what condition a book is in is ComicBase’s Grading Wizard (accessible either through the Comics > Grade Comic menu item [shortcut: F8], or by clicking the “?” icon next to the condition in a comic’s detail window.

To use the grading wizard, all you have to do is ask yourself, “OK, what’s wrong with this comic?” and make the appropriate choices from the lists in question. The wizard automatically tells you what grade the comic would qualify as, noting the particular defects which prevent it from getting a higher grade. For instance, in the illustration below, the comic is limited to a Fine grade due to its cover tears, cover gloss, and staples. The fact that the comic is only nearly flat wasn’t critical to the grade (That particular defect is allowed on books up to Very Fine in grade).

If you had a comic selected when brining up the Grading Wizard, the Apply Grade button is available. Pressing it applies that grade to the selected comic.